That's When I Knew
by littlefool
Summary: Just a short one, inspired by the rooftop scene from the episode 'Launch Party', during which Jim and Pam share the first moment that each of them knew they liked the other- this recounts those moments. Not completely correct in terms of continuity but I hope you'll look past it :-) Also partly inspired by an Amy Pond quote. Enjoy!
1. Yoghurt

_**"And then you get to know them and...and their face just sort of becomes them. Like their personality's written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful."**_

* * *

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.

Each and every time Jim Halpert would spare a glance at the clock on the bleak wall in front of him, it seemed to show no evidence of time doing that little thing it's supposed to do- move forward. He had only been at Dunder Mifflin four days, and already he sensed a tiny nugget of doubt resting in his mind that seemed to grow a little more prominent every time his boss Michael did another Arnold Schwarzenneger impression. Tapping his desk in a monotonous rhythm with his complimentary ball point pen, he let out an exasperated sigh and, having had just about enough of staring at his Windows screensaver, glanced to his right. After catching a momentary glimpse of Pam Beesly, in her prim little shirt and her hair half-up-half-down like always, he found himself not at all inclined to look back to his desk...and he didn't. Not for a little while. That is, until her eyes glancing quickly up to meet his caused him to whip is head around and begin furiously mock-typing until he knew her gaze was no longer upon him.

_Damn it Halpert, _he thought.

_You're a grown man._

* * *

Pam let out an almost incomprehensible sigh as she returned to her work- having once again tried and failed to interact with the guy who, only four days ago, had taken up the job at the desk just opposite her. She would happily admit that she had found Jim handsome from the moment he first walked into the office- but what she might not so readily confess was that there was a little something more to him. Something even she couldn't truly pinpoint...that made her want to talk to him. Even just for a minute. Maybe she was simply bored of the endlessly repetitive nature of her days here. Maybe it was the fact that on his first entering the office he gave her a modest, hesitant, but warming smile; a smile that seemed to make the dull pallor of the office brighten ever so slightly. Maybe it was the fact that most of her colleagues, some that she had known for years, had scarcely even acknowledged her as they had trudged into the Dunder Mifflin doors day after day. Things could get lonely for a receptionist with her own desk just a little too far from the mindless hum of office chatter to be a part of it. Pam could use a friend.

* * *

Jim knew full well that she was engaged. He had found out only minutes after entering the office, as Roy- the kind faced, slightly larger man from warehouse downstairs- had strolled casually to the reception desk and planted a rather aggressive kiss on Pam's lips, much to her obvious surprise. Not that it was any of Jim's business, but he was sure that the look of a fiancé having just been kissed by her intended was not the face gracing Pam at that moment. Not at all. It had only taken a little snooping to find out that they were engaged, and Jim had placed the slight knot that had deposited in his stomach as his not having eaten that morning. Of course Jim knew that he could probably bet money of the fact that he'd never skipped breakfast once in his life, but he didn't like to dwell on that. Still, it made him more than a little sad to see someone who seemed so lovely, any less than completely content. So, naturally, the daily appearance of Roy at the not-so-glistening office doors was enough to make his fists curl slightly, and he would find himself trying that little bit harder not to look up to his right. Every single time Roy left, Jim would see that Pam's usual, comfortable little smile had deflated slightly. He couldn't help but want to try and revive it.

So what if she was engaged...he could still talk to her, right? Of course he could. They could be friends.

That was, if he could only find it in himself to just get up and _talk._

* * *

As Pam saw that the clock was miraculously nearing 12:30, she got up from her chair feeling the ever-present, ever so slight burden of the endless years of office work resting on her shoulders, and made her way to the kitchen area. She convinced herself she had imagined Jim's eyes following her path past his desk, and as she made her way back with her daily mixed berry yogurt she felt just as remarkably average as she did any other day. She was peeling off the lid when-

"Hey, uh, Pam? It's Pam isn't it? Um, I don't wanna be weird, but, uh, I just thought I'd let you know that that yoghurt's been expired for like, three days."

Pam looked up- there was Jim, leaning apprehensively on her desk, his hand poised mid-interruption and his cheeks a little flustered. She felt her face warm at the sight of him and at the sound of his kind, humble voice that felt so familiar. She was taken aback just enough to stall her reply, so he hastily added,

"I only know that 'cause, well, I won't lie to you, I was gonna eat it yesterday, but I put it back when I saw the date." He nervously ruffled his hair with his free hand and gave an apologetic grimace, before adding,

"I don't know why I put it back actually...that was- that was pretty stupid, I'm sorry-"

"Hey, it's cool! No one else in here would have even noticed that I was actually doing something other that typing so, um...thanks. Hands off my yoghurt in future though. Saving me from food poisoning doesn't get you off of _that_ hook." Pam had no idea where this confidence was coming from. She was normally so passive, so subdued.

Jim smiled at her for a moment, as if something had just been revealed to him, before saying softly,

"Got it. Sorry you didn't get to enjoy your yoghurt."

"With counseling I think I'll come to get over it. But Thanks." She found her lips forming a smile.

With a soft chuckle, Jim turned to make his way back to his desk, before stopping abruptly and turning back to her.

"So, you're a mixed berry girl?"

Pam nodded.

"Oh, yeah. Most underrated of all the flavours. Vanilla just has too big an ego for me."

Jim smirked, gave one of those laughs that blow a little air out of your nose like a wisp of warmth and finally sat back in his seat, the smirk evolving to a smile which lingered on his lips for some time after he had returned to his duties.

Pam leant back in her chair, and she could still just about hear his gentle voice resonating in her head.

Her shoulders felt a little lighter.

* * *

Once again staring at his computer screen, Jim began to ask himself what he had been so worried about- talking to Pam, even about yoghurt, had felt like the easiest thing in the world. Experiencing the content satisfaction of having made a friend, he also felt glad, for the first time since his first day at Dunder Mifflin, for having taken this job. Looking up at her again, Pam looked ever so slightly different from before their conversation. A little more radiant.

At 3 o'clock, their eyes met and Jim noticed how her smile made him feel warm, like a glowing ember.

By 5 o'clock that evening, as he said his clumsy goodbye, Pam was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.


	2. Desk-Mate Dwight

In terms of the list of places Pam Beesly would ideally like to be, the Dunder Mifflin office in the mind-numbingly miserable Scranton, Pennsylvania, currently ranked at about 406th- cutting it close to Vat of Animal Excrement, coming in at 405th.

The rain fell at the window with such persistent force that Pam wondered if the heavens had a surplus of precipitation for which they simply couldn't accommodate any longer. She wouldn't be surprised if it ceased to rain again after today.

With slow realisation it dawned on Pam that she had probably spent more time today looking at the weather than she had done actually working, and reluctantly she began typing some mindless memo about some mindless issue that some mindless employee had raised.

The sad truth, one that Pam desperately tried to ignore, was that she didn't really have any friends or even casual acquaintances at Dunder Mifflin. There was of course Roy, her fiancée of three years- yes, three years- who worked in the warehouse. Sure, she cared about him a lot, but he was definitely not the most understanding of people, and secretly it did sadden her that he would rarely ever come up to the office to even say hello. So there she sat, alone. Even after a whole _year _of her being secretary there, a combination of her hesitance with new people, her tragically shy personality...and, honestly, just bad desk location, meant that she left work each day having barely said two words to anyone. Admittedly it made her a little downhearted, but, as she constantly reminded herself, _it's just temporary until I find something better. _

Something better. Anything..._anything_ would be better than this.

Deflated, she spun in her chair to fax the memo, which she glanced at:

"_**A message to all employees - today we will be joined by the new addition to our sales team, Jim Halpert. Please assist him in his getting settled into the office."**_

Pam gave a soft, breathy, somewhat cynical laugh. _Get out while you still can, _she thought. Oh, what she would have given to have never set foot in this godforsaken office.

* * *

As first impressions go, Jim was not exactly overwhelmed with excitement as he half-heartedly approached the drab, lifeless block of cement that he guessed would be his new workplace. However, knowing his own pessimistic nature, he attempted to look past the hugely unappealing exterior and at least wait until he got inside. He _wanted _to be here. He did.

He had taken this job because 1. Cliché and hopeless as it was, he desperately needed the money, and 2. Although he wouldn't hastily admit it, he was genuinely interested in sales. He liked to talk to people. What he really wanted to do was sports marketing but...he tried not to dwell on that. _Stupid dream_, he would think. Jim covertly knew that another appealing factor was that he couldn't quite bring himself to leave Scranton- having grown up there, he just didn't feel ready to say goodbye to his friends and family, all for a job that he may not even keep. So, naturally, when a friend notified him of the opening at Dunder Mifflin, he attended the interview with an open mind; an opening that now seemed to be shrinking, bit by bit, with every step he took towards the office doors. _Stay positive, _he thought, _this can only lead to good things. _

_Even if you hate it, it can just be temporary until you find something better._

Trying to look at least somewhat confident as he walked into the room, which hummed with the dull murmur of it's inhabitants and the occasional trilling of an office phone, he looked ahead to see a reception desk, at which sat a young, fair-haired woman who the instinctive part of Jim's brain immediately thought was really, _really_ pretty. She looked up with the slightly panicked look of a rabbit caught in headlights. She said, apprehensively,

"Um, hi. Welcome to Dunder Mifflin, c-an I help you?"

Jim felt the unmistakable sickness that signaled his nerve failing him, and in a moment of utter stupidity, he could not for the life of him remember his own name.

"I'm, uh...God, I'm uh..."

_Bing!_ There it was.

"...JIM! Sorry, I- I'm Jim. Jim Halpert. I'm the new salesman, I'm, uh, I'm starting here today?"

He nervously ran his hands through his already disheveled hair- he had tripped on his own words so catastrophically that right now he would have preferred to trip and fall into a deep dark hole and never come out. She replied timidly,

"Oh, of course. Well, uh, hi Jim, welcome to Dunder Mifflin, I'm Pam. Pam Beesly." She gave a smile so small that it was almost undetectable, but somehow it lifted Jim's spirits just enough to get his thoughts back on track.

"Nice to meet you Pam. Where shall I set up?"

She gestured towards a desk not far from hers. Jim gave what he hoped was a friendly smile, murmured his thanks, and made his way to his new office dwellings. Taking a seat in his chair and glancing back at Pam, who was back once again engrossed in her work, he could sense the somewhat uneasy feeling continue to brew inside of him. Just first day nerves...right?

* * *

"Oh, and enjoy this moment, because you're never going to go back to this time before you met your desk mate Dwight."

Pam almost clapped her hand to her mouth. She was completely perplexed as to where the words came from, they just sort of slipped out without warning. In all honesty, she could swear that she had never said anything with such confidence as that to any member of this office, maybe not even to Roy. She had just been compelled to say it, almost as if it felt natural to act this way around Jim, despite having literally only just met him. The ridiculous thing was, she knew she would happily talk like that to any member of her family- it was _her_, it was the personality she had always had hidden under her many indestructible layers of hesitance and shyness. For some reason Jim gave off this aura that had broken down those barriers in moments, so fluently that Pam had let her guard down before she herself had even realised.

Jim looked up at her, slightly bewildered, before saying,

"W-What do you mean?"

Pam composed herself, realising she at least owed him an explanation of her little outburst- and despite being aware of her vocal chords this time, again she found herself completely and utterly comfortable talking to him. She decided to go with it; actually conversing at work made a nice change.

"I'm sure you'll find out pretty soon. Dwight's, uh...well, let's just say Dwight is an interesting character. And by interesting I mean the most unexplainably annoying guy you will ever meet."

She felt her heart quicken a little as Jim let out an exuberant laugh. No one _ever _found her funny. They just didn't.

Throat still catching a little on the chuckle, and with a sarcastic self-assured nod, Jim replied,

"Well, thanks for the heads up. I'll, uh, be sure to hold onto this moment."

Pam knew he had only said it in response to her comment, but she couldn't help the smile that spread modestly across her face- it didn't often happen that someone wanted to remember something about Pam Beesly. On the contrary, she felt was a pretty forgettable character in the lives of those around her. Watching as Jim turned back towards his desk, the same smile that had graced her now appearing upon his handsome face, she almost felt a small sense of accomplishment. She had- kind of- made a friend.

Roy hadn't come up to say hello to her during office hours for 4 months and 13 days now- she actually kept tabs on it (besides, what else was there to do). Today, however, it didn't seem to matter so much.

The harrowing sound of the torrential downpour came to an end, and a ray of sunlight pierced through an opening in the clouds. The pitter patter of the last few drops of rain melded into the sound of the modest symphony of fingers on keyboards, and the day went on.


End file.
